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Exceptional....and yet, quite sad. Imagine if he had not missed 5 years of his prime. Imagine if Pakistan did not continue to drop catches off him. Just reading the latest cricinfo article on Amir and it states 16 catches have been dropped in 17 matches...a further two dropped in Ireland's second innings.

This should have been his 117th wicket in 31 matches, and with those wickets, his avg would have been considerably lower. Just when the young man finds his rhythm, the fielders find a way to mess it up.

Exceptional....and yet, quite sad. Imagine if he had not missed 5 years of his prime. Imagine if Pakistan did not continue to drop catches off him. Just reading the latest cricinfo article on Amir and it states 16 catches have been dropped in 17 matches...a further two dropped in Ireland's second innings.

This should have been his 117th wicket in 31 matches, and with those wickets, his avg would have been considerably lower. Just when the young man finds his rhythm, the fielders find a way to mess it up.

You cannot just add 16 wickets to his tally because at times, he has ended up taking the wicket of the same batsman. He cannot dismiss the same batsman twice.

Nonetheless, it is indeed true that he has been somewhat unlucky, but the fact is that in spite of the dropped catches, he has not bowled well in Test cricket.

Congrats to him but unfortunately does not seem like the bowler who would take 200-300 wickets for Pakistan. Not sure who will be the next Pakistan pacer to reach that landmark. Wasim, Waqar and Imran were the only pacers to reach 200+ test wickets. Wasim and Waqar retired 15 years ago. Probably Hasan? or Abbas?

Congrats to him but unfortunately does not seem like the bowler who would take 200-300 wickets for Pakistan. Not sure who will be the next Pakistan pacer to reach that landmark. Wasim, Waqar and Imran were the only pacers to reach 200+ test wickets. Wasim and Waqar retired 15 years ago. Probably Hasan? or Abbas?

He has missed 6 years of cricket. Amir has only played for 3~ years and reached 100. At this point he virtually already has 300.

Donít act like India doesnít have the ability to chase 350. They definitely had the potential to do so that day on the flat pitch with their fully packed squad.

If a guy like Hafeez was hitting sixes imagine what Rohit, Kohli, Dhoni, Singh couldíve done if they werenít in pressure! Remember the group stage match! We got whooped!

Amir bowling definitely was the difference. He should be appericiated!

Sarfraz's captaincy and Junaid were bigger factors than Amir. Sarfraz was spot on with his tactics, and everything that he tried worked. Yes we had luck on our side, but he was on the money tactically.

I do not like Junaid and I do not rate him either, but there is no denying that he did not put a foot wrong in that tournament. He bowled very well in every match, and was one of the key reasons why teams were not able to post big totals. Him replacing Wahab after the first match changed the complexion of our bowling attack.

Amir had zero contribution in two must-win games (South Africa and England), and he got injured before the death overs in the first ODI vs India, allowing them to score 15-20 runs more than they would have. I am not blaming him for getting injured, but that was his contribution.

He was among the flop of the tournaments before the final, but that spell in the opening overs restored his dignity. However, let's not forget that he had the luxury of defending the largest total ever in an ICC tournament history.

At best, he was the fifth major reason for Pakistan's triumph, and is his contribution in the final was not more crucial than the contributions of Azhar and Hafeez.

Fakhar was all over the place in the initial overs, and it was Azhar who took control of the innings earlier on and put pressure on the Indian bowlers. He punched well above his weight by striking at 80+, because if he would have played in his usual mode, he would have suffocated the innings as he normally does and India would have been all over Pakistan.

As far as Hafeez is concerned, his quick-fire 50 put India on the ropes. Both Babar and Malik failed when they decided to go for big shots, and Hafeez was the last man capable of scoring quick runs. Imad was clearly struggling to hit big, and Sarfraz would not have been able to do much against the likes of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, considering his weak hitting ability.

Without Hafeez Pakistan would probably have had to settle for a sub 300 score, which could have changed the complexion of the game.

By no means was Amir among the top three reasons for Pakistan winning the trophy. He did not even make the team of the tournament, and he wasn't even the 12th man. Both Hasan and Junaid made the team ahead of him, and for good measure. He wasn't one of the best players in the tournament by any measure.

My top reasons for the Champions Trophy triumph:

1) Hasan
2) Fakhar
3) Sarfraz's captaincy
4) Junaid

and after the top four, Amir, Azhar and Hafeez can be ranked in any order. Perhaps, Amir should pip them to the 5th position because both of them failed against Sri Lanka, while Amir played an important cameo. Nonetheless, there isn't much between the three.

A few small details to add to that comparison with Wasim that everyone harps about.....

Akram was averaging 27.xx when he took his first 100 wickets
Amir is averaging 31.xx at his 100th wicket

A difference of 4 runs per wicket is huge in test cricket.

Also, Akram had less experience (in terms of FC games played) than Amir has had over the course of his career. I am sorry to say this and this is coming as an Amir fan, it is a disservice to Wasim bhai if him and Amir's are written in the same sentence - cricketing context only!

Amir is the best fast bowler produced in the last 10 years from Pakistan.

He has pace
He has swing
He has control
He has line
He has bounce

What other bowler has few flaws than Mohammed Amir? I dare you to name a bowler who can bowl with as much talent as Amir.

Pace: True if it's a one day game, doesn't have the fitness for tests.
Swing: Fair enough
Control: Doesn't matter when you can't bowl the right line or length
Line: False
Bounce: Again doesn't really matter when you can't land the ball in the right area

Hasan Ali is a better bowler out of Pakistan. Boult, Rabada, Starc to name some foreigners.

Does cricket survive off of it's money or does it survive for it's money?